Clear Goals for the Initiative Must Be Set That Link to the Strategic Needs
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A line of sight must be drawn from the coaching initiative to the
strategic needs of the business. Realistic and achievable goals for
coaching are set that have a direct bearing on addressing these strategic
needs. In all likelihood, coaching will be only a part of the
solution, but without drawing this line of sight, the potential
contribution of coaching becomes opaque. Drawing this link to the
strategic needs also provides a firm foundation later on for isolating
the effects coaching has on the business from other potential influencing
factors.
Goals for coaching that are not linked to the business will have
little value as time wears on. Month by month, the investment in
coaching builds and the gap between the investment and the
expected payoff widens. The chorus of senior leaders questioning
the value of coaching gets louder. In the next chapter, we see how
linking coaching goals to the business opens new doors to increase
the traction of coaching in the organization. A business case formally
establishes the value of coaching. Decisions about initiative
scope and timing can be better made. It becomes clearer how to best
integrate coaching with other HR and business initiatives to maximize
the benefit of all initiatives.
Goals that are developed for a coaching initiative must go beyond
simply aiming for better learning or leaders having increased insight.
From a business perspective, learning and insight are not enough.
Applying what is learned and taking action on insights is required
in order for the business to benefit. Sights can be set even higher for
coaching. Goals can specify business impact areas such as increased
productivity or reduced costs. A goal can be set for having coaching
provide a satisfactory ROI. Chapter 12 explores how a company
articulated a clear strategic need: penetrating the consumer electronics
market for point-of-sale optical scanners. Objectives for
coaching were set that had a direct bearing on this strategic need.
Monetary benefits were documented and the ROI calculated. This
chapter explores the mechanics of evaluation and how to build
credibility for the analysis.
The Outcomes of the Coaching Initiative Must Be Evaluated to
Determine if the Initiative Delivered on Its Value Promise
Hope springs eternal. Without an evaluation architecture in place,
it is difficult to know whether coaching delivered on its value
promise. Leaders may hope that it did deliver value, but it is difficult
to bank on hope alone. Evaluation objectives are developed that
flow from the initiative goals. In this way, the line of sight is extended
from the overall strategic goals of the business to the evaluation
objectives of coaching. The evaluation of coaching then has a direct
bearing on achieving business results. Chapter 12 provides an
example of how this can be done in a way that shows monetary as
well as intangible benefits. ROI was the icing on the cake.
An ROI evaluation has benefits in and of itself: there is an ROI to
ROI. This message is brought home in Chapter 11 as the evaluation
strategy was developed for a company. The soundness of this strategy
sets up the payoff punch for gaining results illustrated in
Chapter 12. Evaluation is not an after-market accessory. Rather, evaluation
is most effective when it is built into the fabric of the initiative.
Interim evaluations are taken as the coaching progresses to nip
problems in the bud. Corrective actions can be taken that will
increase the overall value of the coaching initiative.Managers of the
initiative watch program expenses like a hawk, knowing that a final
accounting will be made and that costs will be compared to the
return. Consequently, managers will continue to drive down costs,
which will ultimately increase the ROI.
Not everyone is looking for monetary benefits or an ROI from
coaching. In fact, this is usually the case. Just knowing that leaders
successfully applied what they gained from coaching to their work
responsibilities may be sufficient. Chapter 13 explores how coaching
may be evaluated in terms of application, rather than by monetary
terms. The case study shows how to best plan for this type of
evaluation and the major decision areas that must be addressed
along the way.